Hidden Figures Book Report

In the movie “Hidden Figures” many points were made about the early 1960s in the United States and African Americans, hence during the Jim Crow Era. One of these points was the advancement of technology in the race to space between The US and Russia. Another point that is made during the film is the racial barriers in the 1960s but how much people were beginning to become accepting of more than race but personality and intelligence.

During the 1950s racism and prejudice was high and as a result many significant role models during the time were not represented in history. Because the United States was segregated during the Space Race “colored” people were not praised by America. They were neglected and overlooked. Overall there were people who helped in the Space Race that were congratulated and praised. They were viewed as the greatest scientist, engineers, and geniuses during the 1950s. But equal representation in praise between Whites and African-American individuals was not made. The United States did not carry on the rich history that African-Americans impacted during the Space Race. Also during that time society choose who to praise no matter how big or small

The Space Race was a 20th century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. This competition was held between 1955 until 1972 and enabled these two rivals to advance their ability of spaceflight and their exploration out of the Earth’s reach. The competition covered several ways in taking human life out of Earth’s orbit and to successfully bring them back home in the process. The Space Race brought about several controversial topics relating to how the USSR copied the methods conducted by the United States, how the United States retaliated against the USSR and the man landing was purposely staged or not. These factors contribute to a large extent on how the space race was won. The Space Race

Due to the fact that the space race took place between the years of 1957-1975, the height of the civil rights movement was in effect. Considering the fact that much more was happening in the 1950s-60s, the year that this movie is taking place, these people are not incorrect when they say that there was more racial conflict present than just the segregation of colored and white bathrooms. Nevertheless, the purpose of Melfi’s film was not to depict all of the racial injustices towards African-Americans in the 1950s and 1960s, but an emphasis on how inequality directly affected the work that they did inside NASA. As seen in the film, the primary focus is on the work they do that is imperative to their work at NASA. For example, Melfi shows Vaughan being questioned in the library for looking at a book in the white section of the library. Although she is outside of NASA, Melfi portrays that Vaughan needs the book to learn about how to program the IBM machine at NASA. Melfi’s exclusion of other prevalent racial injustices was for the purpose of focusing all of the attention on what they faced as African-American mathematicians at NASA. John A. Murray writes in agreement, as he writes about the purpose of Hidden Figures, states that “African-American women working for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (later known

The period after World War Two, known as the Cold War, was a period of brinkmanship between the world superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States. This conflict was fought across the world as these two powers tried to advance their ideologies while blocking the others through military battles and by social prestige. Among the arms race between these powers, a technological battle unfolded, called the Space Race. This race sent humans into space as the two sides took huge risks to outperform the other, giving humanity some of its greatest achievements. This paper will look at the events and outcome surrounding the space race and answer three main questions. First, what led up the Space Race and the Soviet Union’s early victories? Second, how did the United States respond? Fourth, how did the Space Race affect the Cold War? Fourth, what made the United States Space Program more successful compared to the Soviet Union’s?

Hidden Figures is a 2016 film that recounts the story of three incredible black women in NASA history: Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. The film largely sheds light on the experiences of these three women working as computers for NASA during 1960s segregated America. Public restrooms are separated between the whites and coloreds, the white male patriarchy dominates the field, and as always, racism is alive and well. During the film, the political unrest of the country is present and very much of conversation, and as these three women navigate their way throughout society with positions no one expects them to hold, they quite literally make history through their groundbreaking work, history

“There is a fascination with the idea that one has 'seen someone else do something' before one can achieve it. Maybe that's true in some cases, but clearly it is not a requirement. I knew what I wanted to do.”-Mae C. Jemison. When the space shuttle Endeavour blasted off on it’s second mission on September 12, 1992, it carried the first African-American women into space. Mae C. Jemison was not only an astronaut, she’s also a physician, a Peace Corps volunteer, a teacher, and a founder and president of two technology companies.

The NASA Space Program is one of the most, if not, the most known space program that is currently active. One of the most successful projects was the “Space Race”. In this essay I will discuss what happened on the political side, the economical side, and the social/public side of this event and race to beat and get ahead of Russia and their launch of Sputnik 1.

The Space Race greatly affected American Politics and left a stellar legacy on Earth along with the discovery of many useful products used in space technology modified for modern day use. Evan Herbert exclaims how The Space Race affected American Politics by stating; “The presidencies of Eisenhower and Kennedy were put under great strain during this intense rivalry between these two world super powers. Eisenhower assertiveness was questioned after the Soviet launching of their Sputnik satellite. President Kennedy had to keep morale and support for the Space Race afloat when the American public question the purpose, necessity and budget for the en- devour”(Herbert 7). Herbert also adds a quote from one of President John F. Kennedy’s speeches after he states, “On September 12th, 1962 at Rice Stadium, President John F. Kennedy gave one of his most famous speeches ever given”. Herbert then states what John F. Kennedy articulates towards the end of his speech, ‘“Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there”’(Herbert 2). Bill Dietrich remarks about the legacy that The Space Race has given us in present times as he questions, “What has the Space Race accomplished?”, he then continues on his question, “Will future historians someday link the demise of the Soviet Union to its launch of Sputnik?”(Dietrich 1). Dietrich answers these two questions later in his article by

Katherine Gobles Johnson was the first African-American to join the Space Task Group at NASA. This was a prestigious group in NASA that was dedicated in winning the Space Race. Octavia Spencer accurately describes the honor and struggles associated with carrying such a title by describing what the women in the book were doing in an interview with People magazine, “They were basically treated as second-class citizens. They knew that they had more to offer, and they basically rolled up their sleeves and 1 2 3 they did the work to be a part of something greater than themselves. Their contributions to the space program, we’re still feeling the impact of it today.”

The Space Race was a series of events and technological advancements relating to space exploration and travel, made by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War Era to prove their superiority over the other. The period in history that the Space Race falls in is from 1957 to 1975, right in the middle of the Cold War, which lasted over 40 years. During a time of fears of nuclear war, the spread of communism, and being blown up without a moment’s notice, the Space Race gave the entire world something to ogle about that didn’t directly involve complete world destruction and domination.

The Space Race was a 20th century competition between the former Soviet Union and United States for dominion in spaceflight capability and is still an event that generates controversy. Historians and contemporary analysts who claim the United States won the space race frequently cite “the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon” as the sole reason why the nation won. However, while this event was indeed a triumph, it was stimulated by a series of consecutive feats by the former Soviet Union. The U.S.S.R. was the victor of the space race because it successfully launched the world’s first artificial satellite, the Sputnik 1, leading directly to the launch of the first living creature into space with the Sputnik 2. Later, the U.S.S.R launched the first human into orbit inducing future endeavors like the launch of the first woman in space and the first-ever spacewalk. The U.S.S.R. then “kicked off the era of manned space stations with its Salyut series of orbital outposts” as the series fostered the development of the Mir space station. In essence, although these events were paralleled with the prompted creations and developments from the United States, the former Soviet Union’s space accomplishments paved the way for future innovations in space.

From 1947 to 1989 the U.S had made great strides that would change our nation. One of these events was the Cold War, which was fought between the U.S.A and the USSR. The war led the two nations to start a technology war called the Space Race. This race would begin in 1957 when the USSR put the “first artificial satellite to produce signals from space” ( The space race), in the same year they were able to put the first organism in space.

When people refer to the space race, they often think about the development of the negative connotation between the relations of the United States and the Soviet Union. For three years, the United States has not had a single space mission from their own funds, however, only fifty years ago, the space race had been largely emphasized and referred to as a start of a new era . It was a time period where there was an urge to achieve supremacy in the heavens, and the land. It was a seventeen year period, which lasted from 1955-1972, where the two cold war rivals spawned satellites, receptors, and space probes for the sole purpose to achieving new heights. Over the span, the United States established two main goals: imperialism throughout the

The movie Hidden Figures is about 3 African American women who work for NASA during the 1950’s.The three women are Katherine Johnson,Dorothy Vaughn,and Mary Jackson.Katherine Johnson had a hidden talent that most of the people that worked at NASA didn't know she had , she was a master with the numbers.Dorothy was the manager of NASA's segregated West Area Computing Unit and she was also good with the numbers,just not as good as Katherine.Mary Jackson was an American mathematician and aerospace engineer that worked at NASA,along with the other three girls.Many African American women worked for NASA they just don't receive much recognition but these three women seem to have changed the game for everyone.